In contemporary society, individuals are presented with a vast array of information from a myriad of sources. This dense barrage of information taxes individuals, and reduces their understanding of the information that they are presented. New technologies bring yet new forms of information and media, further taxing an individual's ability to interpret and assimilate all of the information. This problem of overburdening individuals with excessive information is especially true in certain professions. For example, modern military forces must operate complicated equipment in taxing environments and stressful situations such as in cockpits, vehicles, aircraft, watch stations and dismounted body-worn systems full of advanced technology. They must work with many devices, interpreting, comparing, relaying, and acting on essential information. However, much of the information that must be sifted through is irrelevant, or is not immediately pertinent. A soldier's efficiency is decreased by the vast quantity of information that he or she must process.
A decrease in efficiency for a soldier can mean the difference between life and death, for himself or his comrades. In situations where information is life-critical, such as in military combat, ensuring a message is received at the right time in the right context is crucial to a combatant's survival. Equally important is delaying the transmission and receipt of non-critical information until life threatening situations have subsided. Even where lives are not on the line, decreased efficiency has a negative impact, drawing a soldier's attention away from currently important tasks. Whether personnel are involved in mission-critical applications, or other non-critical assignments, they must simultaneously process both human and computer-based communications. By decreasing the amount of information that personnel actually receive, and by prioritizing the information that they do receive, their operational performance can be improved. Increased performance will only be provided, however, if they are still presented with immediately pertinent and essential information.
Other professionals, such as police officers, firefighters, emergency first responders, and medical professionals can also benefit from optimizing the presentation of information that they receive. By highlighting the most essential information and reducing the impact of the non-essential information, these professionals can increase their efficiency and improve overall performance and safety.
Therefore there exists a need for an improved communications system.